SFA Looks To Close Season Undefeated
3/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2014
Game 30 - Stephen F. Austin (RV) (27-2, 16-0 SLC) vs. Oral Roberts (16-13, 10-6 SLC)
Date/Time: Thursday, Mar. 6 • 8:00 p.m. (CT)
Site: William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203)
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Twitter: SFA
Game 31 - Stephen F. Austin (RV) (27-2, 16-0 SLC) vs. Central Arkansas (8-19, 5-11 SLC)
Date/Time: Saturday, Mar. 8 • 6:30 p.m. (CT)
Site: William R. Johnson Coliseum (7,203)
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video | ESPN3
Twitter: SFA
Team Information
Stephen F. Austin
Head Coach: Brad Underwood (Kansas State, 1986)
Career Record: 27-2 (1st season), Record at SFA: Same
Oral Roberts
Head Coach: Scott Sutton (Oklahoma State, 1995)
Career Record: 286-190 (15th season), Record at ORU: Same
Central Arkansas
Head Coach: Clarence Finley (UAPB, 1978)
Career Record: 8-19 (1st season), Record at UCA: Same
STORY LINES
• The Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team opened defense of their 2013 Southland Conference title and never let up, going 15-0 in league play to clinch the 2014 outright championship with three games remaining. SFA then followed with a 75-62 victory at Southeastern Louisiana to close its conference road schedule undefeated, at 9-0, for the first time in the Division I era and now return to William R. Johnson Coliseum to close out the regular season.
• SFA, currently riding a 24-game win streak after knocking off SELU, will close its regular season and home schedule with two games inside William R. Johnson Coliseum in Week 18. The `Jacks will host Oral Roberts on Thursday, Mar. 6, and Central Arkansas on Saturday, Mar. 8. The Saturday season finale with UCA will be streamed on ESPN3 and will also serve as senior night for Desmond Haymon, Nikola Gajic and Deshaunt Walker.
• ORU enters the week on a three-game win streak under 15-year head coach Scott Sutton. The Golden Eagles are led by senior Shawn Glover, who is averaging 21.7 PPG and 5.9 RPG. UCA enters the week on a two-game win streak under interim head coach Clarence Finley. The Bears are led by senior LaQuentin Miles, who is averaging 22.9 PPG and 7.3 RPG.
PROMOTIONS
• SFA Athletics in conjunction with Tipton Ford will give one lucky fan an opportunity to drive away from Thursday's games in a new car. Fans can sign up at the game for the contest to possibly win a new Ford Fiesta during the men's game. The first 500 fans to the game Thursday will receive a free pair of SFA sunglasses. The Purple Haze Association is sponsoring "Johnson Jam" and will be giving free tank tops to students.
The Last Time Out
• Senior Desmond Haymon became the SFA's all-time winningest player in the Division I era, in a 75-62 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday evening in University Center.
UP NEXT
• The `Jacks, who are the No. 1 seed, will head to Katy for the 2014 Southland Conference Tournament. SFA will not play until Friday, Mar. 14, in the semifinal game.
SFA VS. THE OPPONENT: The Lumberjacks are 7-5 (.583) all-time against Oral Roberts and 11-0 (1.000) all-time against Central Arkansas, having won the last four meeting with both team, including road trips to both opponents this season. SFA is 4-1 (.800) in the last five meetings with ORU. SFA has not dropped a decision to UCA since the Bears joined the Southland Conference in the 2006-07 basketball season, making the transition from Div. II.
NCAA TOP 10 BEST STARTS: Head coach Brad Underwood, with 27 wins and a Coach of the Year candidate according to ESPN's Seth Greenberg, is one win shy of cracking into the NCAA's top 10 best career starts at the Division I level. Underwood can join Keno Davis (Drake - 28-5, 2008), Mick Cronin (Murray State - 28-6, 2004) and Anthony Grant (VCU - 28-7, 2007), with a win against either Oral Roberts or Central Arkansas to close out the 2013-14 regular season schedule. Bill Guthridge recorded the best head coaching start, finishing 34-4 at North Carolina in 1998.
LUMBERJACKS CLOSE REGULAR SEASON ON ESPN3: ESPN3 will broadcast the Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 8. The men's game is slated to start at 6:30 p.m., CT. David Saltzman and Van Chancellor will have the call for the network. ESPN3 will carry both men's and both women's semifinal games of next week's conference tournament in Katy.
27 WINS & COUNTING: With the win at Southeastern Louisiana, SFA became the first Southland Conference team to reach 27 wins in the regular season, tying the program's most in the Division I era, with two games remaining before the conference tournament. The `Jacks had 26 regular season wins in 2012-13. SFA's most wins in a single season was in 1971-72, when the `Jacks finished 31-3.
ALL-TIME WINNINGEST PLAYER: Senior Desmond Haymon became SFA's all-time winningest player in the Division I era, in a 75-62 victory over Southeastern Louisiana Haymon passed Eddie Williams (91) with his 92nd victory of his career.
TWO WINS AWAY: Seniors Nikola Gajic and Deshaunt Walker are two wins shy of becoming two of SFA's all-time winningest players in a two-year span. Gajic and Walker, each junior college transfers, have 54 victories (27 each season) in their Lumberjack career. The best two-year mark is 56 between the 1971-72 (31-3) and 1972-73 (25-3) campaigns.
PERFECT IN CONFERENCE: SFA has only gone unblemished in conference only twice in program history. The `Jacks finished 18-0 (29-1 overall) in the Lone Star Conference in 1969-70 and 10-0 (22-8 overall) in the Gulf Star Conference in 1886-87. SFA has never gone perfect in the Southland Conference and their most wins in the SLC is 16 (2002-03; 2012-13; 2013-14).
MOST VICTORIES IN SLC HISTORY: SFA, at 16-0 in the Southland Conference, is one win shy of tying the most victories recorded by a league in conference play. Sam Houston State (2002-03 - 23-7/17-3 SLC), McNeese State (2001-02 - 21-9/17-3), Nicholls State (1994-95 - 24-6/17-1 SLC), and Louisiana-Monroe (1992-93 - 26-5/17-1 SLC) share the mark with 17 wins.
ROAD WARRIORS: With the win at Southeastern Louisiana, SFA closed its Southland Conference road slate undefeated at 9-0, the first time the `Jacks have done so in the Division I era. The last conference team that was truly recognized for going undefeated on the road was Arkansas State in 1966-67 when it was 8-0 SLC and 4-0 on road. In 1972-73 Louisiana-Lafayette finished 6-0 (12-0 SLC), but all wins were later forfeited due to NCAA sanctions. Louisiana Tech is listed as 8-0 in league play in 1971-72, but it technically was 6-2 in conference and 3-1 on the road. It was later awarded two league wins (one road win) when ULL forfeited all eight league games that season.
SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: SFA clinched its second consecutive outright Southland Conferece championship and first under head coach Brad Underwood in its 103-63 victory at New Orleans. The `Jacks scored 100 points for the first time since they did so against Howard Payne in 2010 and the first against a league opponent since dropping 110 against Texas-Arlington in the 1994-95 season.
INSIDE WILLIAM R. JOHNSON COLISEUM: Stephen F. Austin enters the week tied for second in the nation's longest active home court win streak at 31 games, one behind No. 4 Duke's 32. SFA, 13-0 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum this season, went all of the 2012-13 season without dropping a match at home en route to the Southland Conference regular season title. The last loss for the `Jacks at home came against UT-Arlington (2/15/12) in the 2011-12 season.
SAFE AT HOME: In 13 seasons under head coach Danny Kaspar and already 27 games under first-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Lumberjacks have compiled a 164-35 (.824) record in the William R. Johnson Coliseum. SFA is 358-126 (.740) all-time in the Coliseum. SFA has recorded nine-straight seasons and 12 campaigns in the last 13 years with double-digit wins at home after its win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi pushed the `Jacks to 15-0 at home last season, tying the best home mark for SFA since going 15-0 at home in 2003-04. Of those 15 wins, 12 came by double digits.
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: After 11 weeks without a vote, SFA received one vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll released on Jan. 20. It was the first time this season and second in the last two years in which the `Jacks received votes in the poll. SFA received its first votes, receiving three, in the AP Top 25 entering Week 15. The `Jacks received votes in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll last season for the first time since getting votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls during its 2007-08 SLC title season. Entering Week 18, SFA is receiving 38 votes in the AP and nine in the Coaches Poll.
MID-MAJOR TOP 25: SFA currently checks in at No. 2 for a second straight week in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25., its highest-ever in program history. The `Jacks are and remain to be the only Southland Conference school to make an appearance in the poll this year. The last time SFA was in the poll was the 2012-13 season, reaching as high as No. 5 prior to the NIT, its previous benchmark. The `Jacks also rank fifth in the SB Nation Mid-Major Madness Power 15 Poll.
RPI: Except for one week this season, SFA's RPI has ranked in the top 100 in the country. The Lumberjacks enter the week at 70, one behind their highest RPI mark of the season at 69 in Week 17
SEVEN TEAMS ALREADY IN TOURNAMENT: Seven teams have already qualified for the 2014 Southland Conference Tournament March 12-15 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. There were already six teams in the tournament's eight-team field entering play last week, including Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Sam Houston State, Oral Roberts, Northwestern State and Nicholls. Of the 11 eligible teams, Houston Baptist and Lamar have already been eliminated from contention, while transitioning teams Abilene Christian and UIW are not eligible for the tournament until 2018. New Orleans is also ineligible for the postseason based on its NCAA APR penalty
HIGHLIGHT REEL: Tied 68-68 in the waning seconds, junior Jacob Parker stole a Northwestern State pass and sealed the 22nd-straight victory for the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team with a dunk with 0.3 seconds remaining in a 70-68 win over Northwestern State on Saturday night in front of a near-capacity crowd of 7,148 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. The play was No. 3 on Sportcenter's Top 10 that night, featured in Sportcenter's fantastic finishes and the No. 2 play on Fox Sport 1's top plays of the night.
1,000 POINTS: Senior guard Desmond Haymon, 28 points shy of 1,000, dropped 30 points against Lamar (2/13/14) to go over the four-digit mark to be come SFA's most recent member of the 1,000-point club. Haymon currently sits with 1,061 points in his career.
FIRST-YEAR SUCCESS: Already with 27 wins at the helm of the Lumberjacks, head coach Brad Underwood is the program's all-time winningest head coach in their first year at SFA. With the 74-58 victory at Northwestern State (Jan. 16), Underwood passed Glen Rose (1948) and John O. Stephens (1952), who both recorded 15 wins back in their respective first seasons.
WALKUP NAMED SLC POW: Sophomore guard Thomas Walkup was named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the league office announced after playing a pivotal role in keeping the Lumberjacks unbeaten in league play. Walkup recorded a career-high 27 points, the margin of SFA's 77-50 victory at Houston Baptist, finishing 11-of-13 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line Thursday night. The native of Pasadena, Texas (Deer Park H.S.), then followed with the first double-double of his career, with 21 points and 10 rebounds, in a 80-70 victory at Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Saturday. Walkup finished 7-of-13 from the floor with two made three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws along with his 10 boards.
SOUTHLAND OPENERS: SFA's 85-65 win over Lamar marked its third-straight Southland Conference opening victory. SFA, 1-0 in league openers and in league home openers under first-year head coach Brad Underwood, were 7-6 in openers under Danny Kaspar. The `Jacks were also 4-1 under Kaspar in Southland openers at home and 3-5 in league road openers.
HAYMON'S HEROICS: Senior guard Desmond Haymon's 36 points against Cal State Northridge mark the second time a `Jack has scored 30-plus this season and is the first for an SFA player at home since Jereal Scott dropped 30 against Texas College (12/17/11) in the 2011-12 season. It is also the first time a `Jack has scored more than 35 points in a game since 2004. Haymon finished 12-of-17 from the floor, draining four shots from beyond the arc, and 8-of-13 from the charity stripe. Of his 36 points, 30 of those came in the second half. In the second half, the native of Pickens, Miss., shot 10-of-13 from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point range and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.
WALKER NAMED SLC POW: Senior guard Deshaunt Walker was been named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week, the league office announced after leading the Lumberjacks with 22 points in 22 minutes off the bench in a 87-53 statement road victory at North Texas on Dec. 15 inside the Super Pit. The native from Silver Springs, Md. (Spring Brook H.S.) was an efficient 7-of-9 from the field, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, and made all three of his free throws. He finished two points shy of his career-high while also adding three assists and a steal.
HAYMON NAMED SLC POW: Senior guard Desmond Haymon was named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week after helping Stephen F. Austin to a pair of wins and being named the most valuable player of the Etech Lumberjack Classic. Haymon recorded 18 points, with 14 coming in the second half, in a 79-69 win against Towson (Dec. 6). He then followed with a game-high 21 points in win over James Madison (Dec. 7) to keep SFA unblemished at home.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR PARKER: Junior forward Jacob Parker, who went through both his freshman and sophomore year without scoring a double-double, has flourished under first-year head coach Brad Underwood's new system. Parker, with eight double-doubles, recorded double-doubles in four of SFA's first seven games. The native of Bixby, Okla., has sense added four more in conference play, recording his fifth in a 28-point, 11-rebound performance against Sam Houston State (Jan. 4), sixth double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds at Northwestern State (Jan. 16), seventh in a 21-point, 11-board showing at Central Arkansas (Jan. 25) and eighth at New Orleans (Feb. 27) in a 11-point, 10-rebound effort. The native of Bixby, Okla., is currently averaging 14.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Parker ranks 11th in the SLC in scoring and seventh in rebounds.
PARKER NAMED SLC POW: Junior forward Jacob Parker was named the Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week after recording consecutive double-double performances and helping the Lumberjacks to a 1-1 record in the team's first two games of the First Bank and Trust Company Roundball Showcase. Parker recorded a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds in SFA's come-from-behind 80-73 victory over Marshall in overtime (Nov. 21). Parker's 31 points marks the first time a `Jack has scored 30 points or more since Jereal Scott put up 30 against Wiley College in 2011. The native from Bixby, Okla., followed up with 19 points and a career-high with 12 boards against East Tennessee State (Nov. 23).
SFA SPOILS HOME DEBUT FOR KASPAR: Sophomore Thomas Walkup recorded a career-high 14 points and junior Jacob Parker recorded the first double-double of his career, as the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team knocked off Texas State 64-57 to spoil the debut of former head coach Danny Kaspar Tuesday (Nov. 12) night inside Strahan Coliseum. In his 13 years in Nacogdoches, Kaspar posted a 246-141 (.636) overall record and guided the `Jacks to seven 20-win seasons, three Southland Conference regular-season titles, two NIT appearances and a berth in the 2009 NCAA Championship tournament.
UNDERWOOD WINS DEBUT: Junior Jacob Parker and senior Nikola Gajic both recorded career-highs and the Stephen F. Austin men's basketball team placed three Lumberjacks in double-figures, as head coach Brad Underwood picked up his first win at the helm in a 90-64 victory over UT-Tyler Friday, Nov. 8 inside William R. Johnson Coliseum. The win comes one week after SFA beat Arkansas Tech in its exhibition opener on Nov. 1.
SFA PICKED THIRD/FOURTH IN SLC POLLS: The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team was picked third and fourth in the Southland Conference preseason polls conducted by coaches and sports information directors, league officials announced Wednesday morning. SFA, the defending 2012-13 SLC regular season champion, was picked fourth in the coaches' poll and in a two-way tie with Sam Houston State in the SID poll, receiving one first place vote.
HAYMON, PARKER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-SLC TEAMS: Senior Desmond Haymon and junior Jacob Parker were each named to the preseason All-Southland Conference teams for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball team, conference officials announced on Wednesday. Haymon was SFA's lone representative on the preseason first team, while Parker earned second team recognition.
UNDERWOOD NAMED HEAD COACH: Brad Underwood was named the 11th head coach of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack basketball program on April 23, SFA Director of Athletics Robert Hill announced at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
QUICK HITS
• SFA is on a 24-game win streak, which sits second in the nation.
• SFA's 14 overall road wins leads the nation, while its 12-game road win streak is tied for first.
• SFA, with its 31-game home winning streak, enter the week tied for second for the nation's longest active home court mark with No. 1 Florida. Both the `Jacks and UF are behind No. 4 Duke's 32.
• SFA enters Week 18, 2nd in the nation in win percentage (93.1), 4th in turnover margin (5.7) & 9th in scoring margin (13.7). SFA also ranks 22nd scoring defense (62.3) & 59th in scoring offense (76.0).
• Haymon's 30 points at Lamar (Feb. 13) put him over 1,000 points for his career to become the 9th SFA player in the Division I era. He then became SFA's all-time winningest player at the Div. I era at UCA (Mar. 1) with his 92nd victory of his career.
• Haymon's 36 points against CSU Northridge (Dec. 30) marks the second time this season a `Jack has scored 30 points or more. Parker recorded 31 points in a overtime win at Marshall (Nov. 21).
• Walker's six made three-pointers at Texas (Nov. 15) is the first for SFA since Kevin Broussard against Wiley College (11/30/2011).
• The Lumberjacks streak of 66 consecutive games of holding an opponent under 70 points ended with their 72-62 loss at Texas (Nov. 15). SFA went all of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons without allowing 70 points to an opponent.
• SFA is coming off a 27-5 campaign in 2012-13, in which the men set a school record in wins and claimed their third Southland Conference title in program history.
• SFA made its third-ever appearance in the NIT in 2013 at Stanford and first since 2008 when it fell to UMASS. SFA is 1-4 all-time in postseason tournaments.
• Brad Underwood became the 11th head coach in SFA history on April 23, 2013.
• SFA is 1-0 vs. non-Division I programs in the Brad Underwood era.
• Entering the 2013-14 season, SFA & Wisconsin were the only two programs in the nation to be ranked in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense each of the last five seasons.
Series vs. ORU: SFA leads 7-5
Last 5 Meetings with ORU
Season (H/A), W/L, Score
2013-14 (A), W, 72-69
2012-13 (H), W, 77-67
2012-13 (A), W, 61-50
2002-03 (H), W, 71-68
2001-02 (A), L, 78-57
Series vs. UCA: SFA leads 11-0
Last 5 Meetings with UCA
Season (H/A), W/L, Score
2013-14 (A), W, 66-49
2012-13 (H), W, 72-36
2012-13 (A), W, 77-69
2011-12 (A), W, 67-56
2010-11 (H), W, 75-63
Last meeting with ORU - (2013-14 Season - Jan. 23, 2014, Tulsa, Okla.)
SFA trailed for 31:86, but got a put-back layup from senior Nikola Gajic with 33 seconds remaining and closed on a 4-2 run to hold off Oral Roberts 72-69 Thursday night inside Mabee Center.
Last meeting with UCA - (2013-14 Season - Jan. 25, 2014, Conway, Ark.)
Junior Jacob Parker recorded his seventh double-double of the season and senior Deshaunt Walker added 19 points off the bench to push SFA over Central Arkansas 66-49 Saturday afternoon inside Farris Center.
Series Notes
• Thursday's game with Oral Roberts will be the 13th meeting between SFA and the Golden Eagles. The `Jacks have their last four meetings with ORU.
• Saturday's game with Central Arkansas will be the 12th meeting between SFA and the Bears. The `Jacks have not dropped a meeting with UCA.
-SFA-
